DD (32 months) was diagnosed with a very slight (like 5 degree) intermittent exotropic strabismus at 21 months. We went the ophthalmology route. Patching seemed to help. After a couple of months the doctor could not even detect it in the office. We still saw it, especially if she was sick. But, it seemed to be resolving itself, and because she would no longer allow it, we stopped patching about 6 months ago. Everything was fine until now.

About a month ago DD really started to read. And, about a month ago, I have started noticing the eye turn again. It has gotten as bad as it ever was. Last week, she started to read whole sentences at a time, and I have noticed something that might be odd. I don't know. She reads the sight words fine, but when she gets to a word she has to sound out, she turns her head away, closes her eyes, and sounds it out, then goes pack to the page. She cannot look at small print or print surrounded by other words and sound out a word. It is actually kind of disturbing to watch. She seems uncomfortable and fidgety.

This is not something I want to talk about. It really makes me sick to think that her reading might be making her eye worse. We just moved so I have to find a new doctor and get in as soon as possible. I just want you all to know that everyone's thoughts and experiences on the subject are being thoroughly mulled over by me.

About a month ago DD really started to read. And, about a month ago, I have started noticing the eye turn again. It has gotten as bad as it ever was. Last week, she started to read whole sentences at a time, and I have noticed something that might be odd. I don't know. She reads the sight words fine, but when she gets to a word she has to sound out, she turns her head away, closes her eyes, and sounds it out, then goes pack to the page. She cannot look at small print or print surrounded by other words and sound out a word. It is actually kind of disturbing to watch. She seems uncomfortable and fidgety.

Ok, just one data point here but I'm like that at times. I'm a horrible speller and I'm very visual/spatial. When I was younger (although sometimes I still do this) and I had to spell a word, I closed my eyes and "saw" the word and was able to spell it better. For me it was more about blocking out all other distractions so I could just think about that word. I do wear glasses but basically only to drive and see movie screens/lectures.

While I'm sure that it is simply a matter of lazy eye, I want to say something to parents with children that have a sudden onset of lazy eye or strabismus.

Please, if you see a sudden onset or sudden increase in symptoms, take your child directly to their pediatrician. There are far worse things than simple problems with eyesight that can cause these problems. If you child ever wakes up with nausea and vomiting, or suddenly becomes clumsy, please get them to the doctor immediately.

I am not a doctor, nor a nurse, nor am I offering medical advice, but I'm simply speaking from the heart based on personal life experience.

ETA: while I'm on the topic of warning signs of bad things brewing, another sign to always be aware of in a child can be seen in photographs. If your child has a white eye glare (think about red eye glare in photos) in a photograph, take them IMMEDIATELY to a doctor.

thank you so much for the info. After coming back from the Irlen screening i've been feeling strangely unsettled and after reading all the replies since, my head is spinning even more now. The Irlen lady said ds1 has the Irlen syndrome and it is on the more chronic/severe spectrum. While he was doing the screening, she was asking him to look at very stark black and white patterns that I thought would be challenging for any normal-sighted person. When he reported seeing very closely set lines turning into waves, well, frankly I saw the same thing and I thought it was totally normal. She then said that I have the syndrome too and had probably passed it down to ds1, who has a more severe manifestation of it. We are supposed to go back next week to find his color for Irlen lenses, all in all, it will be a very expensive trial.

I'm having a hard time processing the controversial information on the internet and not quite convinced to part with so much dollars though I know that I avoid fluorescent light and shiny white pages. At the same time, we have exhausted every other available avenue and there is not much else to try. Still I'm kinda relooking back on my history with the possibility that certain difficult phases in my life might have been attributed by a fluctuating vision issue I never realised. At one stage I was coloring entire text in highlighters in order to process the words.

At the same time, I thought her screening process was not very scientific to say the least. Geez. I think I shall just sleep it all off.

thank you so much for the info. After coming back from the Irlen screening i've been feeling strangely unsettled and after reading all the replies since, my head is spinning even more now. The Irlen lady said ds1 has the Irlen syndrome and it is on the more chronic/severe spectrum. While he was doing the screening, she was asking him to look at very stark black and white patterns that I thought would be challenging for any normal-sighted person. When he reported seeing very closely set lines turning into waves, well, frankly I saw the same thing and I thought it was totally normal. She then said that I have the syndrome too and had probably passed it down to ds1, who has a more severe manifestation of it. We are supposed to go back next week to find his color for Irlen lenses, all in all, it will be a very expensive trial.

I'm having a hard time processing the controversial information on the internet and not quite convinced to part with so much dollars though I know that I avoid fluorescent light and shiny white pages. At the same time, we have exhausted every other available avenue and there is not much else to try. Still I'm kinda relooking back on my history with the possibility that certain difficult phases in my life might have been attributed by a fluctuating vision issue I never realised. At one stage I was coloring entire text in highlighters in order to process the words.

At the same time, I thought her screening process was not very scientific to say the least. Geez. I think I shall just sleep it all off.

Have you looked at some of the books on Irlen colors??

Below is a link on Amazon to one a school I worked with had in the staff library.

I worked w/ kids that had Learning Disabilties and yes--- for some kid color overlays made a big difference, others not at all. Some kid got prisms in their glasses or treatment for divergent vision that helped....there are a LOT of different ways to treat eye strain/ muscle imbalances, etc.

My suggestion= before you order expensive glasses--- get some cheap color overlays at Staples or online and have your DS try them when reading a line of text or a short paragraph. See if they help.

We often used them for SOME of our kids that struggled w/ LDs. The overlays were inexpensive, portable, fairly durable, and not a lot of cost if no inprovement was seen.

Thank you for sharing! I'm glad for the reassurance that it does really help some children. I'm almost afraid to check out the books, but you're right, I should. I'm almost afraid to find out how bad his vision might actually be if this Irlen syndrome thing is true. We have been given overlays, but DS1 seem to be holding out on them. He resents using them, yet once he starts on a page, he refuses to read without them and then runs off as quickly as he can. I was so exasperated and told him I would be happy to cancel the next appointment and just go with the optometrist who says it is a minor issue and would work itself out. He then panicked and said to give him a few weeks - I can't fathom what for.

In the past, he had broken down after reading one or two pages, and all he would say was he couldn't go on like this anymore. Today he tells me this is because the words sometimes fragment and disappear entirely, and he must be stupid because only a stupid brain can't see words. Last month he had a really bad fall in school - it looked as though someone punched him a few times on one side of his face - and he had said he couldn't see anything for a while but could not supply any further details. After reading how some Irlen sufferers cannot see parts of their surroundings, I'm slowly freaking out inside. The clinic we went to is the only one here. The next one is a six-hour flight away, so I have no choice but to go back to her, which I will, to find out more.

DD (32 months) was diagnosed with a very slight (like 5 degree) intermittent exotropic strabismus at 21 months. We went the ophthalmology route. Patching seemed to help. After a couple of months the doctor could not even detect it in the office. We still saw it, especially if she was sick. But, it seemed to be resolving itself, and because she would no longer allow it, we stopped patching about 6 months ago. Everything was fine until now.

About a month ago DD really started to read. And, about a month ago, I have started noticing the eye turn again. It has gotten as bad as it ever was. Last week, she started to read whole sentences at a time, and I have noticed something that might be odd. I don't know. She reads the sight words fine, but when she gets to a word she has to sound out, she turns her head away, closes her eyes, and sounds it out, then goes pack to the page. She cannot look at small print or print surrounded by other words and sound out a word. It is actually kind of disturbing to watch. She seems uncomfortable and fidgety.

This is not something I want to talk about. It really makes me sick to think that her reading might be making her eye worse. We just moved so I have to find a new doctor and get in as soon as possible. I just want you all to know that everyone's thoughts and experiences on the subject are being thoroughly mulled over by me.

I'm not a (medical) doctor, but I am glad you're going to see a new opthalmologist. You said she was diagnosed with exotropia which is the eyes turning out, but now her eye is turning in (which is esotropia). http://www.strabismus.org/exotropia_eye_turns_out.html So it might be that your DD's vision has changed since she was younger (or maybe the terminology is confusing).

I wouldn't think that the reading is causing her eye problems, but that the eye problems are becoming more apparent since she's reading. DD's eye crossing didn't become apparent until she started preschool and was doing a lot more close up work.

Thank you for sharing! I'm glad for the reassurance that it does really help some children. I'm almost afraid to check out the books, but you're right, I should. I'm almost afraid to find out how bad his vision might actually be if this Irlen syndrome thing is true. We have been given overlays, but DS1 seem to be holding out on them. He resents using them, yet once he starts on a page, he refuses to read without them and then runs off as quickly as he can. I was so exasperated and told him I would be happy to cancel the next appointment and just go with the optometrist who says it is a minor issue and would work itself out. He then panicked and said to give him a few weeks - I can't fathom what for.

In the past, he had broken down after reading one or two pages, and all he would say was he couldn't go on like this anymore. Today he tells me this is because the words sometimes fragment and disappear entirely, and he must be stupid because only a stupid brain can't see words. Last month he had a really bad fall in school - it looked as though someone punched him a few times on one side of his face - and he had said he couldn't see anything for a while but could not supply any further details. After reading how some Irlen sufferers cannot see parts of their surroundings, I'm slowly freaking out inside. The clinic we went to is the only one here. The next one is a six-hour flight away, so I have no choice but to go back to her, which I will, to find out more.

That is very scary - is it possible that some of his vision problems started after this head injury? I would be concerned that something was damaged when he had this injury. Has he seen an opthalmologist? I think I would start with a thorough examination with an opthalmologist (MD) as opposed to an optometrist (DO), since his problems seem to be pretty severe. The ped opthalmoplogist would be able to determine if there's some other root cause.

It must be heartbreaking to hear about his troubles reading. I know these vision problems are so scary. When our DD was initially having trouble, her ped wanted her to see a neurologist, and have an MRI with sedation and this just freaked me out. Luckily we got in to see a ped opth and determined that she had a relatively common problem that could be fixed with glasses. I wish you good luck - it sounds like you are working so hard to help him.